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I have wanted to ride and own my own motorcycle all my life. Getting married right out of high school and having a family put things on a back burner for me for quite some time (like 30 years). When I was nearly 50 years old with three grown children all married and grandchildren I got my first motorcycle, a Suzuki 125. I drove around forever in first gear until I mastered it. As silly as it was, I was in heaven! It wasn't long after that I graduated to a Suzuki GZ250 and really was ready to hit the road.

Patricia on her Suzuki GZ250.

By now, I was ready to venture out for real rides using all the gears and was loving every minute of it. One Saturday afternoon, some of my relatives stopped by on their motorcycles and asked my husband and I to go for a ride. Excited beyond what one could imagine, I was on that bike and ready to go in no time!

So, off we went -- my brother was first on a Suzuki Intruder 1500 with his wife on the back; I was second with my little GZ250, my cousin was third with his Honda, and my husband was last with his Suzuki Savage. We headed up what we call the mountain road, which is all country roads. As we were headed up the hill I saw something out of the corner of my eye looking to me like wood that fell off a truck or something. I had no place to go. On my right this big mass of something was headed for me and on my left were guardrails. Much to my surprise, as it came closer I realized a SUV in the other lane hit a very large deer, which was now airborne headed right for me! I only had my license for three months. Something inside me said stand up and gas it! That's just what I did. I believe an angel was sitting on my shoulder because the deer hit the ground I ran over the top of it and never went down! So much more could have happened. The deer was still alive and kicking and died shortly after.

Patricia posing on the bike she now owns, a Honda Shadow VLX 600.

Now, four years later I am still riding and have a Honda Shadow. I live in New York and last year started a woman's riding group. The group is still small but there is many women riding now and it gives us the opportunity to meet other women with the same passion for the sport of biking. It doesn't matter what you ride. If you want to do this, you should follow your dream! For some reason, it can be the worse day ever and you can get on that motorcycle and take a short ride and that alone seems to change your frame of mind.